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For their final act of their day show at King’s, Triangle college radio stations WXDU, WKNC and WXYC outdid themselves with a three-way-combo of stringed instrument experts. Legendary improvisational guitarist and banjo player Eugene Chadbourne, whose long list of collaborators runs the gamut from Camper Van Beethoven to John Zorn, was joined by New Yorker and longtime site favorite Steve Gunn and the renowned experimental harpist Mary Lattimore. Having never played together before, the three worked out their collaborative style in real time, which was a fascinating process to watch, and even more of one to hear. It was fascinating to watch Lattimore turn an instrument known for its delicacy into an aggressive, atonal element, with her slapping at its sides for percussive effect. Gunn and Chadbourne likewise built off of each other, with Chadbourne providing emphatic bursts of noise at points on the banjo. The piece flowed from delicate and restrained to harsh and intense minute-to-minute, holding your attention as you wondered where the trio would end up next, and reveling in the fact that they might not be quite sure, either. Chadbourne even added some vocals at the end, with lines referencing the traditional song “I Wish I Was A Mole In the Ground.” It’s safe to say that nothing else about this unique meeting was “traditional.”

I recorded this set in the same manner as the day’s other recordings, with a soundboard feed from King’s engineer Justin together with Schoeps MK4V microphones onstage. There is a bit of DI hiss on the quiet passages, but overall the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

In lieu of its usual tag-team day show with Three Lobed Recordings at King’s during Hopscotch Festival, this year Durham’s WXDU teamed with fellow college radio stations WXYC and WKNC to create a two-level show that offered the broadest possible spectrum of sounds. Opening things up at Neptune’s, Kings’ downstairs venue and an electronic music hotbed throughout the festival, was the young artist Away Msg, aka Kat Liang, who produces thoughtful ambient dance music that incorporates natural sounds into the usual slow-rolling flow of textures and beats. The Raleigh artist’s repertoire consists solely of some Soundcloud tracks thus far, but she deserves a wider audience that we’re sure she’ll get. During her time making music, Away Msg has evolved away from 8-bit style sounds toward a more cerebral glitch/ambient style exemplified by songs like “after work (the good times are too short),” which began this set. Away Msg’s songs are complex without being precious (even with the long song titles), and listening to them in the comforting twilight of Neptune’s at one in the afternoon set a perfect musical tone for the rest of the day, at a creative day show that has historically always been more of a true music fan’s event that the “parties” that go on elsewhere. We don’t get nearly as many opportunities to feature electronic music on this site as we’d like, so this is a special treat. Keep an eye on this artist – we hope to hear more from her in the future!

Eric PH recorded this set with a soundboard feed and AKG CK91 microphones to provide ambiance. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 After work (the good times are too short)
03 At the park (burning my memories of you)
04 Reflection (smoking a cigarette by the ocean)
05 Breath of fresh air (it is a good day to die)

With Three Lobed Recordings on a temporary hiatus from their traditional day show with WXDU on the Friday of Hopscotch Festival, WXDU took matters into their own hands and teamed with fellow college radio stations WXYC (UNC-Chapel Hill) and WKNC (N.C. State) to produce a two-stage day show worth of the tradition. Perhaps the centerpiece of these sets was the trio of Elisa Ambrogio (best known for her work in Magik Markers) and Ben Chasny (aka Six Organs of Admittance), who have been touring together, with the guitar improviser Tashi Dorji. The three of them got down to some serious experimental improv that captured the imagination of the crowd (and had a couple of bewildered college students plugging their ears). The sum of this team was clearly more than its parts, combining noise, free verse, and melodic interludes. By the end of this 20 minute burst of inspiration, our only regret was that it couldn’t be longer.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps MK4V microphones you see in the photo below, together with a soundboard feed by the day’s very capable engineer, Justin. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Chris Forsyth has a body of work that’s deeper and more diverse than that of most artists twice his age. But he may have produced his finest work to date with his first release for Paradise of Bachelors, Solar Motel. which comes out at the end of this month. Joined by a group of players (Paul Sukeena on guitar, Peter Kerlin on bass and Steven Urgo on drums) that he calls the Solar Motel Band, his new psychedelic art-rock outfit, Forsyth gave the assembled crowd for the Paradise of Bachelors / WXYC day show the great privilege of playing the new record straight through. The four-movement record has a power and narrative structure all its own, suggesting that even with his many accomplishments as a guitarist, Forsyth may be even better in the role of bandleader.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones from the exact spot you can see in the photo above. Put the headphones on and let Forsyth and the Solar Motel Band take you on a journey you won’t soon forget. Enjoy!

The young Nashville band Promised Land Sound represents a bold new move by the fledgling North Carolina label Paradise of Bachelors. It’s their first attempt to officially break a new act. And, if the quality of PLS’ live performance at the PoB/WXYCHopscotch Music Festival Day Show is any way to gauge it, I’d say they have a good shot at succeeding. The Bachelors signed the band on a bit of a whim, having caught them as an opening act for established underground artists Wooden Wand and MV & EE at William Tyler‘s venue The Stone Fox. The band fits well into PoB’s musical vision, with a catalog that expresses a continuous line from the rock of decades ago to today’s artists. Which is to say that while PLS is new, their country-inflected barroom choogling could have lit a fire under people’s ass back when the band members’ parents were still on the prowl.

This set covered both material from their just-released debut LP, Promised Land Sound (which features Tyler as a guest performer), as well as some earlier material from their Stoned Eagle EP from 2012. The boys’ live performance emphasized the grittiness of their sound, and in many ways flattered the hands-off approach taken to the record’s production, which has a good bit of similarity to the live sound. Rocking out in the lovely Stephenson Amphitheatre in the late summer sun, I could see how the comparisons made between such luminaries as CCR, Jim Ford and Gene Clark in the press materials were more than fair. Promised Land Sound should have a lot to look forward to in the years ahead.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the other PoB Day Show recordings, with Schoeps MK4V cardiods at the stage lip and a soundboard feed. While the performance, and the quality of the capture of the instruments on stage is excellent, the PA suffered from some distortion that is evident on the recording, primarily in the vocals. With the understanding that this is a limitation of the equipment and not the band, this should be a worthwhile introduction to this up-and-coming young act. Enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

The tiny new North Carolina imprint Paradise of Bachelors may only have a catalog ten LPs deep, but among their offerings have been many of my favorites of the past couple years. For the first time, PoB decided to throw their own day show during the Hopscotch Music Festival to show off collaborations among artists they work with as well as friends of the label. Unlike the festival’s other events, which took place in downtown Raleigh, this show was held among the green expanse of a lovely outdoor amphitheater that is part of the Raleigh Little Theater complex. The result was a bright day with some of the festival’s best music.

Lonnie Holley began the show almost in the style of an invocation, setting a mystical, reverent tone for the day. Best known as an artist and sculptor, Holley’s forays into music have attracted the attention of a variety of well-known players in the indie music world, from Bill Callahan and Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox to his co-collaborators elsewhere at Hopscotch such as Mac McCaughan, Brad Cook, and Steve Gunn. What exactly to call Holley’s music eludes me, to be honest, so take it away, Aquarium Drunkard (in a review of this year’s LP, Just Before Music):

Holley restrains himself from too much conventional musicality—melody and that sort of thing. There is scarcely a proper chord change in his music, much less a full progression. He sings with an intense, emotional voice and unleashes lyrics without consistent meter or rhyme over gossamer keyboard lines that hang in the ether. His music is a blues nebula, splotched with riffy word jazz that shares in some rappers’ collagist aesthetics as well as the runaway passion of a gospel preacher enlivened by the Spirit.

Holley’s album title says something about what he’s trying to tap into with his sound. His music isn’t “primitive”, but it is primal, intended to speak to the universality of the human experience. On this day, Holley came out alone onstage, with the buzzing of cicadas his quiet backdrop. These four songs each told a story, but perhaps the most passionate was “One Garden But Many Gardens”, Holley’s tribute to what he called “Mother Universe” and her “gumbo-ish manner”. To fully get the metaphor, I recommend checking out the banter track, but out here, among nature, Holley’s words resonated powerfully. There couldn’t have been a better way for this day to begin./

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed and Schoeps MK4V microphones directly in front of the stage. This recording emphasizes the soundboard feed to capture the full range of the vocals. While it reveals both some wind noise and the limits of the simple PA setup, it is nonetheless a solid recording. Enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

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